Defibrinater.



G. H. ROBERTS.

DEFIBRINATER.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 29-19I6.

1,224,09a Patented Apr. 24,1917.

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M J flz/ -G. H. ROBERTS.

DEFIBRINATER. APPLICATION FILED JULY 29, I916.

' Patented Apr. 24, 1917.

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nNrrnn erArns rArnNr orrron GEORGE E. ROBERTS, or I D ANAroLIs,INDIANALAS'SIGNQR ro rIT rANav o'oBE COM- PANY, on INDIANAPOLIS,INDIANA, A CORPORATION or INDIANA.

DEFIBBINATER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

llate'nteol Apr. 24, 1917.

Application filed July 29, 1916. Serial No. 112,149.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE H. ROBERTS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Indianapolis, in the county of Marion and State of Indiana,have invented a new and useful Defibrinater, of which the following is aspecification.

In the manufacture of certain serums, viruses, and vaccins, the desiredsubstance is developed from the blood of the living animal, and theblood is then drawn from the animal and suitably treated to obtain suchsubstance. In order to obtain this substance from the blood, it isnecessary that such blood be freed from the fibrin which forms in itwhen it is drawn from the animals body, as otherwise such fibrin causesa clotting of the blood and partial or complete loss of the desiredsubstance. Ifv the blood be maintained in continuous agitation from thetime it is drawn from the animals body until the formation of the fibrinis complete, the fibrin is segregated from the other part of the bloodand floats thereon, and may be removed by filtration so as to leave theother part of the blood unclotte'd.

Heretofore this segregation of the fibrin as it forms has been almostwholly obtained by hand whipping of the blood or by hand shakingthereof. This has required a great deal of tedious labor.

It is the object of my present invention to provide a mechanicaldefibrinater for maintaining the blood in continuous agitation until thefibrin-forming process is complete.

The accompanying drawings illustrate my invention. Figure 1 is avertical section through a defibrinater embodying my invention, beingtaken substantially on the line 11 of Fig. 2; Fig. 2 is a verticalsection on the line 22 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectionaldetail, showing the construction and mounting of one of the rotatablejar-supporting elements; and Fig. 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of Fig.3.

On the top 10 of a suitable frame or table are a number of trunnionsupports 11, in which are mounted trunnions 12 of a series of rotatablejar-supporting elements. These jar-supporting elements are all separate,so that they can be rotated selectively as required. 7

Each jar-supporting element comprises the main body 15, having a pair ofcurved side arms 16 Which carry the trunnions 12,

which trunnions are in a line offset from the main body 15 and in theplane of an overhanging cupped finger 17 at one end of such main bodyand a cup 18 spring-mounted on a lever 19 pivoted on a pin 20 at theother end of such main body. The cup 18 is springpressed toward thefinger 17 by springs 21 surrounding pins 22 which interconnect such cupand the lever 19', but is yieldable away from such finger 17 by thecompression of the springs 21 to receive and resiliently hold a suitablejar 23 in which the blood to be defibrinated is placed. The bottom ofthe jar fits in the cup 18, and the mouth of the jar is closed by a cork24 which is pressed into such mouth by the linger 17. The axis of thetrunnions 12 passes through the jar 23 sufliciently near the center ofthe latter so as to prevent during the rotation of the jarsupportingmember the development of suflicient centrifugal force to displace thejar; though it is not necessary that such axis should pass through theexact center of the jar. The lever 19 is provided at its opposite endfrom that which carries the cup 18 with a roller 26, which cooperateswith a cam finger 27 on a clamping lever 28 mounted on a pivot pin 29 onthe main body 15. By moving the clamping lever 28 in a counterclockwisedirection (Figs. 2 and 3) to the position shown, the cam 27 forcesoutward the roller 26, thereby forcing the cup 18 toward the .finger 17to clamp a jar 23 in place; and the lever 28 moves sufficiently far inthis counterclockwise direction so that the point which forms its nosepasses beyond the line oining the centers of the roller 26 and the pivotpin 29 so as to lock the lever in this position by the expanding actionof the springs 21. Turning the clamping lever 28 in the oppositedirection permits the cup 18 to be moved away from the finger 17 so asto permit the insertion or removal of a ar 23.

Each jar-supporting element has at one side a driving pulley 30, whichis connected by a loose belt 31 to a pulley 32 on the drive shaft 33common to all the jar-supporting elements. This drive shaft is suitablydriven in any convenient way, as by an electric motor 34 suitablyconnected thereto, as by a silent chain 35 and suitable sprockets. Thebelts 31 for the different jar-supporting elements are sufficientlyloose so that ,unless such belts are tightened they will not drive suchelements on the rotation of the shaft .the position shown.

33. In order to tighten any of the belts 31, to

throw their jar-supporting elements into operation, an idler pulley 36is mounted on an arm 37 carried by a fixed rod 38, the pivotal end ofsuch arm 37 being bifurcated so as to fit astride a collar 39 fastenedon such rod 38 by a set screw 40, so that the collar 39 preventsmovement of the arm 37 axially of the rod 38, and the set screw 40limits the move ment of the idler pulley 36 away from its associatedbelt 31. The arm 37 has an upwardly extending finger 41 to which ispivoted a socket 42 which receives the threaded end of a rod 43 providedwith a handle 44 projecting through the apron 45 of the table 10, theopening for the rod 43 being provided by a metal plate 46 which has acentral hole for such rod and a lateral slot 47 for permitting thepassage of a radial pin 48 carried by the rod 43 in the plane of thehandle 44, which is weighted to hang in Thus the handle 44 must beturned to bring the pin 48 into registry with the slot 47 before the rod43 may be pushed in or drawn out to tighten or loosen the associatedbelt 31. By screwing the rod 43 into or out of the socket 42 thetightness which the idler pulley 36 produces in the belt 31 may beadjusted.

In operation, the blood from the bodies of the animals is drawn into anydesired number of jars 23, the blood being whipped in the jars while itis being drawn to segregate any immediately forming fibrin, and then thejars with the blood in them are placed in the several rotatablejar-supporting elements, of which there may be any desired number. Themotor 34 and shaft 33 being in operation, the blood-containing jar isstarted into rotation, as soon as it is placed in its jar-supportingelement, by pushing in the corresponding handle 44 to tighten thecorresponding belt 31. The retation of the jar and the resultantagitation of the blood therein segregates the fibrin as it is formed;and when the formation of the fibrin is complete the rotation of the jarmay be stopped, the jar removed, and another jar of blood put in placeon the same jar-supporting element, without interfering with thecontinuous rotation of the other jar-supporting elements and the continuous agitation of the blood in the jars supported thereon.

I have found in practice that the agitation produced by this apparatusproduces almost perfect segregation of the fibrin, and reduces the lossfrom blood clotting to a negligible amount.

I claim as my invention:

1. A defibrinater, comprising a jar-supporting element mounted forrotation, said jar-supporting element having two opposed parts forreceivin and clampin a jar between them, one 0 such parts beingspringmounted, a clamping member for moving said opposed partsrelatively to produce a clamping and unclamping of said jar, the axis ofrotation of said jar-supporting element passing through a jar when it isclamped between such opposed parts, and means for rotating saidjar-supporting element.

2. A defibrinater, comprising a jar-supporting element mounted forrotation, said jar-supporting element having two opposed parts forreceiving and clamping a jar between them, one of such parts beingspringmounted, the axis of rotation of said jarsupporting elementpassing through a jar when it is clamped between such opposed parts, andmeans for rotating said jar-supporting element.

3. A defibrinater, comprising a jar-supporting element mounted forrotation, said j ar-supporting element'having two opposed parts forreceiving and clamping a jar between them', one of such parts beingspringmounted, a clamping member for moving said opposed partsrelatively to produce a clamping and unclamping of said jar, and meansfor rotating sair jar-supporting ele-' ment.

4. A defibrinater, comprising a jar-supporting element mounted forrotation, said jar-supporting element having two opposed parts forreceiving and clamping a jar between them, one of such parts beingspringmounted, and means for rotating said jarsupporting element, theaxis of such rotation being transverse to the axis of the jar.

5. A defibrinater, comprising a jar-supporting element mounted forrotation about an axis transverse to the jar axis, said jarsupportingelement having two opposed parts for receiving and clamping a jarbetween them, one of such parts being springmounted, a driving motor,and means for drivingly connecting and disconnecting said motor and saidjar-supporting element.

6. A defibrinater, comprising a motordriven shaft, a plurality ofjar-supporting elements separately connected to said shaft by loosebelts, said jar-supporting elements being mounted for independentrotation, and an idler pulley associated with each loose belt fortightening it, said idler pulley being mounted on a swinging arm, and apush rod of adjustable length connected to said swinging arm foroperating it and provided with a stop for holding the pulley inbelt-tightening position, said stop being adg'lustable by adjusting thelength of said ro 7. A defibrinater, comprising a motordriven shaft, aplurality of jar-supporting elements separately connected to said shaftby loose belts, said jar-supporting elements being mounted forindependent rotation, and an idler pulley associated with each loosebelt for tightening it.

8. A defibrinater, comprising a driving shaft, a plurality ofjar-supporting elements mounted for independent rotation, and means forconnecting each of said jar-supporting elements to said shaft ordisconnecting it therefrom Without affecting the other jar-supportingelements, each of said jarsupporting elements being arranged to sup porta jar so that the axis of rotation passes through the jar.

9. A defibrinater, comprising a driving shaft, a' plurality ofjar-supporting elements mounted for independent rotation, and means forconnecting each of said jar-supporting elements to said shaft ordisconnecting it therefrom Without affecting the other jar-supportingelements, each of said jarsupporting elements being provided Withopposed members Which are relatively spring-pressed toward each otherfor clamping a jar between them with the axis of rotation of thejar-receiving element passing through the jar, and a clamping memher formoving said opposed members relatively to produce clamping andunclamping of said jar.

10. A defibrinater, comprising a driving shaft, a plurality ofjar-supporting elements mounted for independent rotation, and means forconnecting each of said jarsupporting elements to said shaft ordisconnecting it therefrom Without affecting the other jar-supportingelements, each of said jar-supporting elements being provided Withopposed members Which are relativelyspring-pressed toward each other forclamping a jar between them, and a clamping member for moving saidopposed mem bers relatively to produce clamping and unclamping of saidjar.

In Witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand at Indianapolis,Indiana, this twenty-eighth day of June, A. D. one thousand nine hundredand sixteen.

GEORGE H. ROBERTS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

